When Omri Casspi was 13, his family took him on a Bar Mitzvah trip to the United States, the highlight of which was a visit to New York City where the Israeli youngster stood in front of Madison Square Garden and boldly vowed he would one day play there.
"It was more of an illusion. I'm sure thousands of other Israeli kids did the same thing," Casspi recalled, "but it's a dream that somehow came true."

Los Angeles has unveiled its logo for the city's bid for the 2024 Olympics, displaying it on a digital screen on the 30th floor of a downtown skyscraper shortly after sunset on Tuesday.
The logo is a figure of a soaring angel with outstretched arms and legs illuminated by the rays of the sun, which emanate from a point of light at the figure's heart in a palette of purple, red, orange and yellow, colors often seen in the city sky at sunrise and sunset. The city's slogan for the bid is "Follow the Sun."

Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said he won't sacrifice players in a bid to shut down the threat of Cristiano Ronaldo when they host Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.
And the Italian insisted the belief and ambition of his players, and not the past history of either club, will be key they look to upset the formbook at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday.

All Russian athletes must sign an anti-doping declaration to take part in this month's national indoor athletics championships, the secretary general of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) Mikhail Butov said Tuesday.
"All the athletes who are going to compete at Russia's indoor championships in February need to sign the declaration," Butov told TASS state news agency.

Croat striker Nikica Jelavic has quit English Premier League club West Ham to join Chinese second division side Beijing Renhe, the London side announced Tuesday.
Jelavic, 30, had made just one Premier League start since joining the Hammers in the summer, having fallen further down the West Ham pecking order after the arrival of Nigerian forward Emmanuel Emenike in the January transfer window.

Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat is dealing with another blood-clot scare, making this the second consecutive year that he's spent the All-Star break facing a most uncertain future because of a health issue.
Bosh will spend "the next few days" reviewing options and no determination will be made about his playing status until he goes through more tests and evaluation, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Monday night. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the All-Star forward nor the Heat have revealed the concerns publicly.

Sepp Blatter is back at FIFA headquarters for an appeal hearing to challenge his eight-year ban for approving a $2 million payment to Michel Platini in 2011.
Blatter arrived early for his scheduled 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) start with the FIFA appeal committee to challenge ethics committee sanctions imposed in December.

Retired Ukraine great Andriy Shevchenko, the 2004 Ballon d'Or winner, on Tuesday started work as assistant coach of the country's national squad.
Team manager Mikhail Fomenko introduced the 39-year-old former Dynamo Kiev, AC Milan and Chelsea striker in his new function at a special ceremony held by the Ukraine Football Federation.

Paris Saint-Germain will be without Serge Aurier for this week's Champions League game against Chelsea after the defender was suspended until further notice for insulting coach Laurent Blanc and some of his teammates in a video posted on a social network.
Two days before PSG takes on Chelsea in a first-leg match in the Champions League's last 16, the French club said it had begun disciplinary proceedings against Aurier, who will miss Tuesday's game at the Parc des Princes.

A court in Egypt on Monday jailed 15 hard core football fans known as "ultras" for trying to kill the chairman of the popular Cairo-based Zamalek club, an official said.
"Ultras", who were at the forefront of the 2011 uprising against ex-president Hosni Mubarak, had already been banned as a group since May 2015 after another court found them guilty of taking part in violence.
